Water-motor.



F. G. BMRIGK.- 'WATER Mo'lon. APPLICATION '.FILED DEO. 16, 19017,-

PatentedDec. 8, 1908.

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F. C. EMRIGK. WATER MOTOR.

Patented Dec. 8,1908.

Ou.. Frank G.' Emriok by w Ahb'Y.

FRANK C. EMRIGK, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WATER-MOTOR.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

Application lled December 16, 1907. Serial No. 406,754.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK C. EMRIGK, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Water- Motors, of which the following is a full, clear,and eXact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a top plan view of a water motor constructed in accordancewith my invention, said view being taken on a horizontal plane locatedbelow the upper members of the carriages. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofa portion of the motor illustrated in Fig. l, only the carriage A beingshown in this figure; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of part ofthe mechanism that is employed for starting and stopping the motor.

This invention relates to water motors, namely, machines that areadapted to be driven by the current of a river or flowing stream ofwater.

The main object of my invention is to provide a machine of the characterdescribed that is of simple' construction and which will generate agreat deal of power.

Another object of my invention is to provide a water gate which is sodesigned that the pressure of the water on the gate constitutes theprincipal means for opening and closing the gate.

I have herein shown my improved water motor as being utilized fordriving a pump but it will, of course, be understood that it could beutilized for driving an air compressor or for various other purposes.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of myinvention, l designates a pair of rails that are arranged on the bed ofa river or a stream of flowing water to form a track for a plurality ofcarriages A, A which are connected together by a cable or other suitableflexible member 2 passing around a drum or driving member 3, said drumbeing provided with an eccentric or crank arm 4 totwhich the crosshead 5of a pump 6 is connected by means of a link 7. The carriages A, A areimmersed in the water and are provided with gates that are closed andopened intermittently to form an obstruction to the current of thestream so that the carriages will be moved backwardly and forwardly andthus rotate or oscillate the drum or driving member 3 around which thecable 2 passes. Each of the carriages herein shown consists of anoblong-shaped base 8 and head-piece 9 connected together by uprights 10,the base being provided with wheels or rollers 1l that travel on therails l.

Both carriages are of the same construction so that I will onlyspecifically describe the carriage A, the parts of the carriage A beingdesignated by the same reference characters that are used to designatethe parts of the carriage A with the character a added. The base andhead-piece of the carriage A are hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, and are soconstructed that they will offer the least possible resistance to theflow of the water, said parts being approximately elliptical shape incross section. A plurality of pairs of vertically disposed shafts 12 arejournaled in the base and head-piece of the carriage and a gate 13 ispivotally mounted or journaled on each of said shafts, said gatespreferably extending from the base to the head-piece of the carriage, asshown in Fig. 2. The gates 13 are preferably hollow and the shafts l2pass loosely through the interior of same, the side edges of the gatesbeing inclined or disposed at an angle to their front and rear faces sothat they are substantially diamond-shaped in cross section, the frontand rear faces of the gates being wider, however, than the inclined sideedges. Each of the shafts l2 is provided adjacent its upper and lowerends with pinions 14, and rack bars l5, which are connected to the rearside of the gate adjacent its upper and lower ends, mesh with saidpinions.

i The shafts 12 of each pair are so disposed relatively to each other,and the gates 13 are so proportioned that when the gates are closed;namely, when they extend longitudi nally of the carriage, their meetingedges will overlap and thus form a wide obstruction or dam that offersconsiderable resistance to the flow of the water, the main portions ofthe gates being located between the ends of the carriage. The carriage`is provided with stops or abutments 150 with which the gates contactwhen they are closed. Consequently, when the gates of the carriage A areclosed or when they are arranged in the position shown in Fig. l, thepressure of the water on said gates will cause the carriage A to movedown the stream in the direction indicated by the arrow a in said figureand thus draw the carriage A in the opposite direction, as indicated bythe arrow L, and as the cable 2 which connects said carriages togetherpasses around the drum 3 said drum will be rotated and thus impart areciprocating movement to the cross-head of the pump 6. lhen thecarriages reach certain positions the gates of carriage A are opened andthe gates of carriage A are closed, so that said carriage A will beprovided with a dam or obstruction that causes the carriage A to move inthe opposite direction or down the stream, and the carriage A to move inthe opposite direction or up the stream, the cable'2 operating to turnor rotate the driving drum in the opposite direction.

The gates on the carriages are opened and closed automatically by meansof the following mechanism: Each carriage is provided with a rack bar16, preferably arranged inside of the hollow base of the carriage, andthe shafts 12 on which the gates are mounted are provided at their lowerends with pinions 17 that mesh with the rack bar 16, said rack bar beingconnected to the long arm 18 of a bell crank lever that is mounted on abracket 19 on the carriage. A pair of stops 20 and 21 is provided foreach carriage, and the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on thecarriage is so formed that it will contact with these stops as thecarriage reaches its limit of movement in both directions and thusactuate the rack bar 16. When the carriage A reaches its limit ofmovement down-stream; namely, when it is traveling in the directionindicated b v the arrow a in Fig. 1, the short' arm 22 of the bell cranklever will engage the stop 21 and thus move the rack bar 16 in thedirection of the arrow c in Fig. 1. The movement of the rack bar 16 inthis direction turns the shafts 12 and thus causes each of the gates 13to move or shift relatively to its shaft by means of the rack and pinionconnection between the gate and shaft. As soon as the gate has reached aposition in which the shaft 12 is on the opposite side of thelongitudinal center of the gate the forceof the water rushing againstthe gate will cause it to swing open. That is to sav, when the gates areclosed, as shown in Fig. 1, the shaft which extends through each gatewill be located at one side of the longitudinal center of the gate sothat the gate will not be balanced evenly and the pressure of the wateron the gate will hold it against its stop 150. When the gate is shiftedrelatively to its shaft the shaft will be located on the opposite sideof the longitudinal center of the gate and thus cause the gate to beoverbalanced so that the pressure of the water on the gate will cause itto swing open, the carriage being provided with 'stops 23 with which thegates contact when they are open. At the time the'carriage A reaches itslimit of movement down-stream and its gates are opened, as abovedescribed, the carriage A reaches its limit of movement up stream sothat the shaft arm 22a of the bell crank lever on said carriage comesinto engagement with the. stop 20a. The movement of said bell cranklever shifts the rack bar 16a of said carriage in the directionindicated by the arrow (l in Fig. 1, and thus turns the shafts 12a ofsaid carriage. The movement of said shafts shifts the gates 13lrelatively to the shafts and locates the shafts on the opposite sides ofthe longitudinal centers of the gates from that shown in Fig. 1, so thatthe pressure of the flowing water on the inclined side edges of saidgates will turn them about the shafts as fulcrums in the directionindicated by the arrow e in Fig. 1, the turning movement of the gatesbeing arrested by the stops 1502L so that the gates come to rest withtheir meeting edges overlapping each other.

From the foregoing it will be seen that very little power is required toopen and close the gates as the current or pressure of the water isutilized to turn the gates, mechanical power being used merely to shiftthe gate relatively to its shaft or fulcrum. By providing the gates withinclined side edges which extend in the direction in which the gatesturn, the pressure of the water on said gates is so distributed that thegates will always turn in the proper direction. `While I have hereinshown a construction in which the gates are shifted relatively to thefulcrums about which they turn, it will, of course, be obvious that thesame results could be accomplished by shifting the fulcrums relativelyto the gates. It will, of course, be understood that the gates ofcarriage A are closed when said carriage reaches its limit of movementup-stream, by means of the bell crank lever on said carriage coming intocontact with the stop 20, and that the gates of carriage A are openedautomatically when said carriage reaches its limit of movementdown-stream by means of the short arm of the bell. crank lever on saidcarriage coming` into engagement with the stop 21a.

For enabling the machine to be stopped conveniently have provided meansfor shifting the stop 21 that actuates the bell crank lever on thecarriage A so that said lever will be operated and thus open the gateson said carriage before the gates on the carriage A have been closed,thereby causing both carriages to come to rest as both of them offer thesame resistance to the flowing water.

In the construction herein shown the stop 21 consists `of a rod that isconnected to a piston 24 arranged inside of a cylinder 25,

said piston being operated by `means of any I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letsuitable motive fluid such, for example, as compressed airor water that is introduced into and conducted away from the cylinder 25by means of conduits 26 and 27 leading from a source of supply on thebank of the river. This forms a very efficient means for controlling theoperation of the motor as the motor and also the pump 6 that it operatesare submerged in the river at quite a distance from the shore. The stoprod 21 is provided at its front end with a pivotally mounted dog 28 anda spring 29 which tends to force said dog upwardly. A cam or inclinedbracket 30' is arranged in the path of movement of the dog 28 and whenthe motor is in operation and the stop rod 21 occupies the positionshown in Fig. 1, an extension 31 on the dog 28 will project underneaththe cam or inclined bracket 30, said bracket being preferably connectedto one of the rails 1, as shown in Fig. 3.

To stop the motor the piston 211 is moved in the direction of the arrowg in Fig. 2 and the end of the stop rod 21 will prematurely engage theshort arm 22 of the bell crank lever on the carriage A and actuate saidlever so as to open the gates on said carriage. Consequently, the motorwill come to rest as the gates of both carriages are now open. As thestop rod 21 moved forwardly the extension 31 on the dog 28 rode alongthe underneath face of the bracket 30 and after said extension passedout of engagement with said bracket the spring 29 threw the dog 29upwardly, thereby bringing a shoulder 32 on said dog into such aposition that it will engage the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever oncarriage A when the stop rod moves in the opposite direction to closethe gates, the cam 30 causing the dog 28 to release the arm 22 when thestop 21 has been returned to normal position.

To start the machine l permit the motive fluid to enter the cylinder 25`through the conduit 26 and thus move the piston 24 in the oppositedirection to that in which it moved when the machine was stopped, and asthe dog 28 moves with said piston, the shoulder 32 on said dog willengage the short arm 22 of the bell crank lever on carriage A and thusactuate the rack bar 16 to close the gates on said carriage to form anobstruction or dam that causes the carriage A to move down-stream.

The pump 6, herein shown, is used to force water from the river up tosome point on the land through a conduit or pipe 6a but, as previouslystated, it is immaterial for what purpose my motor is used. so that I donot wish it to be understood that my invention consists in a water motorthat is used for operating a pump.

Having thus described my invention, what ters Patent is:

1. A water motor comprising a pair of carriages, a member connected tosaid carriages and adapted to impart rotary or osci'l- 70 latorymovement to a driving member, pivotally mounted gates mounted on saidcarriages so as to form dams or obstructions when they are closed,mechanism for shifting said gates relatively to their pivots so that thecurrent of the stream can open and close the gates, and devices arrangedin the path of movement of said carriages for automatically actuatingsaid gate-operating mechanism; substantially as described.

2. A ,water motor comprising a plurality of carriages connectedtogether' by a flexible device that passes over a driving member,pivot'ally mounted gates arranged inside of each carriage, means on eachcarriage for shifting the gates thereon relatively to their pivots tocause the current of the stream to open and close the gates, and meansfor operating the gate-actuating mechanism of one carriage to open thegates thereon and simultaneously operating the gate-actuating mechanismof the other carriage to close the gates thereon; substantially asdescribed.

3. A watermotor comprising a pair of carriages, a flexible deviceconnected to said carriages and passing around a driving` member,pivotally mounted gates arranged inside of each carriage and adapted toform dams or obstructions when they are closed, mechanism for shiftingsaid gates relatively to their pivots to cause the current of the streamto open and close the gates, and stationary devices which are soarranged that the gate-actuating mechanism for each car riage will beoperated to close the gates thereon and thus cause the carriage to movedown stream and thereafter operate said mechanism to open the gatesthereon; substantially as described.

4. A water motor comprising a pair of supporting frames, a flexibledevice passing around a driving member and connected to Vsaid frames, atrack on which said frames travel, gates pivotally mounted on saidframes between the ends of said frames, mechanism carried by each framefor shifting the gates relatively to their pivots so that the current ofthe stream can open and close the gates, and a pair of stops coperatingwith each frame and adapted to operate the gate-actuating mechanismthereon when the frame reaches predetermined positions in its travels;substantially as described.

5. An apparatus of the character described provided with a supportingframe that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, agate arranged on said frame, a shaft arranged adjacent the center ofsaid gate to form a fulcrnm forsame, and means for moving one of saidmembers relatively to the other to cause the pressure ofV the water tocompletely open or close the gate depending upon the direction in whichsaid member is moved; substantially as described.

(3, An apparatus of the character described, provided with a frame thatis adapt.- ed to be immersed or partially immersed in water, a gatemounted on said frame, a vertically disposed shaft that forms a fulcrunifor said gate, and means for shifting the gate relatively to the shaftto cause the pressure of the water to turn the gate, substantially asdescribed.

7. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supportingframe that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, ashaft that forms a fulcrum for said gate, a rack and pinion connectionbetween said shaft and gate, and

`means for turning' said shaft to shift the gate relatively to the shaftand cause it to be turned .by the pressure of the water thereon;substantially as described.

8. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supportingframe that is adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in water, agate mounted on said frame and having side edges that are inclinedrelatively to its front and rear faces,

a vertically disposed shaft that forms a fulcrum for the gate, and meansfor shifting said gate relatively to the shaft to cause the gate to beturned by the pressure of the water thereon; substantially as described.

9. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a supportingframe that is adapted to be immersed or partially iinmersed in water, apair of vertically disposed hollow gates mounted on said frame, a shaftextending loosely through each gate to form a fulcrum therefor, meansfor shifting the gates relatively to their respective shafts to causethem to be turned by the pressure of the water thereon, and stops withwhich the gates contact when they are opened and closed; substantiallyas described.

10. An apparatus of the character described, provided with a carriagewhich consists of a head-piece and a hollen7 base connected together bystandards, vertically disposed shafts ]'ournaled in said base and headpiece, gates loosely mounted on said shafts and having rack and pinionconnections with their respective shafts, a rack bar arranged in thehollow base and meshing` with pinions on the ends of said shafts, andmeans for actuating said rack bars to turn the shafts and thus shift thegates so that they will be opened and closed by the pressure of thewater thereon: substantially as described.

11. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a plurality ofcarriages adapted to be immersed or partially immersed in a stream offlowing water, means for causing said carriages to travel continuouslyin opposite directions, a driving member which receives its movementfrom said carriages, and fluid operated means under control of theoperator for stopping and starting said carriages; substantially asdescribed.

A. water 'motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adapted tobe immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on saidcarriages, means on each carriage for actuating the gates thereon, aflexible device passing around a driving member and connected to saidcarriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates ofone carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to closesimultaneously, and fluidoperated means under controlof the operator forchanging the position of one of said stops so that the gates of bothcarriages will be open at the saine time; substantially as described.

1?). water motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adapted tobe immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on saidcarriages, means on each carriage for actuating the gates thereon, aflexible device passing around a driving member and connected to saidcarriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates ofone carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to closesimultaneously, and means under control of the operator for changing theposition of one of said stops so that the gates of both carriages willbe open at the same time, said stop being provided with means forcausing the gates of one of the carriages to be closed as said stop isreturned to normal position; substantially as described.

le. A water motor comprising a plurality of carriages that are adaptedto be immersed in a stream of flowing water, gates mounted on saidcarriages, means on cach carriage for actuating the gates thereon, aflexible device engaging a driving member and connected to saidcarriages, stops which are so arranged that they will cause the gates ofone carriage to open and the gates of the other carriage to close atapproximately the same "time, a piston for operating one of said stops,a cylinder in which said piston is mounted, and conduits leading fromsaid cylinder to the bank of the stream for introducing a motive Huid tosaid piston; substantially as described.

l5. A gate adapted to be immersed in water to form a ,dam orobstruction, a member contacting with said gate and adapted to form afulcrum therefor. and means for shifting one of said members relativelyto the other in such a direction that the pressure of the water willopen the gate; substantially as described.

16. A gate adapted to be immersed in Water to form a dam vorobstruction, a vertically disposed shaft arranged adjacent the center ofthe gate to form a fulcrum for same, and mechanical means for bodilyshifting said gate so as to arrange the shaft on opposite sides of thelongitudinal center of the gate and thus cause the pressure of the Waterto open and close the gate; substantially as described. l

17. A Water gate having one of its side edges inclined relatively to thefront and rear faces thereof, a vertically disposed shaft which forms afulcrum for the gate, and means for shifting one of said partsrelatively to the other to locate the shaft on one side of thelongitudinal center of the gate so that the pressure 0f the Water canturn the gate; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo Witnesses, this thirteenth day of December 1907.

`FRANK C. EMRICK.

Witnesses:

WELLS L.k CHURCH, GEORGE BAKEWELL.

